Singapore Food Tour – 2 day local guide to eating in Singapore

Singapore is an exciting dining destination. The small city state features a wide range of local cuisine and food from all over the globe. There are cheap and good hawker food and sophisticated culinary creations of celebrity chefs in ultra-expensive restaurants and everything in between. The Singapore Food Tour 2 Day Guide is our suggested itinerary for self-guided exploration of Singapore culinary delights. We hope this guide may be useful to tourists and visitors as well as newcomers to Singapore and “local tourists” too. Selamat makan or bon appetit!

Day 1

Breakfast

Start your Singapore Food Tour with a simple traditional Singapore breakfast of half boiled eggs and kaya toasts. Head to one of the many outlets of Killiney Kopitiam, Toast Box or Ya Kun Kaya Toast. You can find them in most traditional coffee shops too. For a real Singapore experience, we suggest the Killiney Kopitiam at Killiney Road. It is near the Orchard Road shopping belt so you can go shopping right after breakfast.

A convenient and comfortable place for a kaya taost breakfast may be Toast Box at Chijmes. You can explore the grounds of the heritage site of Chijmes after breakfast and then visit the Singapore Art Museum nearby.

Lunch

Nasi Padang

Nasi Padang dishes

Nasi padang, though of Indonesian origin (Padang is a city on the west coast of Sumatra), has become one of the food Singaporeans cannot live without. It is steamed white rice eaten with your choice from a wide variety of meat and vegetable dishes – such as spiced beef, curry chicken, fried vegetables, eggs and spicy vegetable soup.

There are many good nasi padang restaurants in Kampong Glam. Sari Ratu and Kampong Glam Cafe are two of the many Singapore restaurants serving nasi padang. Visit the Sultan Mosque and the Malay Heritage Centre while in Kampong Glam and explore the interesting streets there like Haji Lane, Bussorah Street and Arab Street.

Dinner

Chicken Rice

Chicken Rice

Hainanese chicken rice is like Singapore’s national dish and one of the few local dishes on the menu of Singapore Airlines. You can find chicken rice stalls in almost every food court and hawker centre.

We suggest that you try one of the restaurants along Seah Street or Purvis Street like Yet Con or Sin Swee Kee. When you are in that area, you can also visit the iconic Raffles Hotel and the Mint Museum of Toys at Seah Street or walk a little to the National Library a few streets away.

Day 2

Breakfast

Chwee Kueh

Chwee Kueh

One of the “must try” items in Singapore is chwee kueh. The saucer-shaped steamed rice cake topped with diced preserved radish, and served with chilli sauce if you like, is a popular breakfast dish. You can find chwee kueh in the air-conditioned environment of Tang’s Market but we suggest that you go to Tiong Bahru Food Centre for the real experience. After breakfast you can wander around the Tiong Bahru Estate, one of the oldest housing estates in Singapore, and check out a mix of traditional shops, hip cafes, indie boutiques and bookshops.

Lunch

Chapati

Chapati Meal

Embrace another facet of culturally diverse Singapore with a Chapati meal. Chapati is a type of bread made of unleavened wheat flour. It is best eaten with curries.

The best place to for a good authentic Chapati meal is arguably Azmi Chapati at Norris Road in Little India. Little India is nothing like the rest of Singapore. You can spend many hours there. Amble through the narrow lanes and be dazzled by the fascinating sight, sound and scent of a very colourful district of Singapore.

Dinner

Chilli Crab

Seafood at East Coast

Chiili crab is crab stir-fried in a sweet savoury thick gravy created with a base of chilli and tomato sauces, thickening flour and eggs. It is the iconic dish of Singapore and a Singapore food tour will not be complete without chilli crab. Despite its name it is not very spicy and is often eaten with mantou (or Chinese steamed bun).

Chiili crab can be found in most seafood restaurants in Singapore and you can go to Jumbo, Red House or Long Beach which have outlets in many convenient locations. However, if you want to enjoy seafood by the coast in a place with a casual bustling atmosphere, join the crowds at the East Coast Seafood Centre. You can work up an appetite before dinner by jogging, inline skating or cycling at East Coast Park. After dinner, you can tale a stroll in East Coast Park and enjoy the cool sea breeze.

Two days will not really be quite enough to have a good sampling of the food Singapore has to offer. You can of course try more food by eating between meals and going out for late supper. If you have more time in Singapore, check out What to eat in Singapore today for more suggestions as to what else to eat and where to go for drinks in Singapore.

Singapore Sling

The Ordinary Patrons
Singapore Food Blog by Ordinary People looking for Places to Eat

We are simply writing as everyday folks about our own experience. Any comment on the food or service or the overall quality of our experience is just an expression of our opinion and is strictly based on what we experienced on our visit to an eatery on a particular day. Information in any blog post is correct as of date of publishing; please check with the restaurant/cafe for updated information. Read About Us.

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